Injuns!

Who would have ever thought way on back in 1584 when Sir Walter Raleigh received permission to colonize Roanoke, Virginia, that the United States would have deceptively bought the land from the Indians, then treated them like inferiors and forced them, essentially, off their own land. Don't we attack other countries for doing that? Ah, how far we've come. Thank you, America.

I'm sure that the Indians feel the same. I mean, they were singing the praises of the American government as the Army marched the "Five Civilized Tribes" from their homelands in the deep South to "Indian Territory" in Oklahoma. And by saying "singing the praises of" I mean "totally loathing them." The Trail of Tears marked a certain...low point in the Nation's history.

Really, the American government has not treated the aboriginal people of the continent very well. At all. And to all the "African-Americans" out there who think I owe you something simply because I'm white--piss off. I owe you nothing. We've had equal rights in this country since the 60's. Get over yourself, get a job, and make something of your life other than a waste of air. Why is that blacks like James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, and Barak Obama can make a positive impact on society? Because they don't think America owes them anything. Take a clue from them.

If you're a NATIVE American...yeah, I owe you something. My ancestors are the ones that chased you off the land. My ancestors are the ones who deceived you and then tried to eliminate your people. My current government still persecutes you and still treats you as if you were not legitimate people.

This study is rather disturbing. Grant it, I think it's a tad misleading as "the rest of America" consists of 50,000 cultural and sub-cultural groups that don't exist within the tribes, but a 10% ratio of death by alcohol-related means is a wake up call. Our government is busy off policing the world, the very people to whom we owe a great deal of thanks sit on their government-granted acreage and drink...because there's nothing else to do. They're cut off from the rest of society, in a lot of cases. They're depressed. They have no ambition and, really, why should they? The government--even though it has agreed that the tribes are sovereign nations--still try to worm their way in to take control. The Governator wants to try to tax Indian casinos here in CA. To make them "pay their fair share." They don't have a fair share.

What if...back when the White Man came to the shores of this new nation, that the Indian chiefs had said, "Fine. You can settle here, but here's the law by which you must abide"? I'm sure, eventually, we would have passed the Indian Removal Act, but it probably would have been much later. What if a Native American were to have been placed in charge of the new government that was forming? It was the White Men that drove them from their lands. The Trail of Tears wasn't for the removal of the Sioux or Blackfoot. It was for the removal of the tribes that had integrated themselves into life in the South.

If you knew your once-great people had been nearly obliterated and ostracized by the society that had "tamed" them and you were reduced to living on "tribal land" or trying to re-enter the society that had snubbed you (and continues to do so), you'd probably drink yourself to death, too. Now, this is not necessarily true of all Indians on reservations. Some have chosen to work harder and be better--David Midthunder is a good example. So is Graham Greene (though, he's Canadian).

Of the number of Native Americans that remain, 10% die of alcohol-related incidents (such as DUI's and sirocis of the liver). Why are we slapping the hands of other nations in the world for invading other countries and trying to force the people out when...we've done that ourselves? Why are we not setting the example and actually helping the Native Sons and Daughters? We think we're helping by saying they're offended by being called Indians or red-skins or saying high schools can't have "Braves" or "Chiefs" as their mascots because the Indians will be offended.

I don't think they care half so much about that as they do about being forgotten by the bastards we are.